Despite a light shower and temperatures dipping below 10 C, thousands of runners crossed the finish line of this year’s Royal Victoria Marathon on Oct. 12.
Vancouver’s Louis Marmar Maruk was crowned king of the event, finishing with a time of 2:24:29.
“It feels so nice,” he said, seconds after crossing the finish line at the intersection of Menzies and Belleville Streets.
Soft-spoken, Maruk thanked his coach and running club, the Vancouver Falcons. Last year marked his first Royal Victoria Marathon, where he finished 12th with a time of 2:43:53. In his second appearance, he shaved nearly 20 minutes off that result, saying he had dedicated the past several months to improving his game.
“I’ve been training to run fast,” he said. “It was just a matter of consistency.”
Originally from Uganda, where he competed at the national level, Maruk came to Canada in 2022, determined to make his mark in road running.
With the BMO Marathon in May 2026 in his sights, the runner’s ultimate goal is to break the 2:10:00 mark – a five-minute improvement on his personal best.
A little over 15 minutes later, Lethbridge’s Cassandra de Winter came blazing down Belleville, finishing in 2:39:51 as the first woman to cross this year’s finish line.
“It was so good and it was so fun,” she said. “Being out here was amazing and the weather was perfect.”
Establishing her new personal best, the 32-year-old mother of three was proud of her performance, especially after months training for the off-road circuit.
“I was quite intimidated by the shift back to road,” she said. “I was doing trail (running) all summer so shifting back… was interesting.”
Having completed the Lost Soul Ultra – a 100 km ultramarathon in Lethbridge – just a month ago, she explained she had to adapt at the last minute for the marathon, requiring both physical and mental resilience.
“I’m a bit of a ruminator, so I had to really try to keep my positivity and I did a lot of hyping up for myself, with other people,” she said. “Honestly I just tried to keep a steady pace throughout and push for the last two kilometres.”
Yet, like Maruk, consistency and dedication were key to de Winter’s success in the end.
With a qualifying time well below the Boston Marathon threshold, de Winter said her focus now lies solely on preparing for the mythical eastern marathon taking place in April 2026.
The Royal Victoria Marathon in numbers
Celebrating its 45th anniversary, this year’s Royal Victoria Marathon welcomed more than 15,500 participants from 33 countries, marking the event’s all-time record attendance.
Registration hit record highs: 4,098 in the full marathon, 6,510 in the half marathon, 3,209 in the Westland Insurance 8K, 1,000 in the Island Savings 5K, and 589 children in the Thrifty Foods Kids Run.
In just two years, total participation has grown by more than 6,400 runners.
Sunday’s races started at 7:15 a.m. with the 8K, and 8:15 a.m. for the marathon and half marathon.
For more information about the race and its results, visit runvictoriamarathon.com.
– With files from Tony Trozzo
